Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) this application claims priority from Korean application no. 2001-28727, filed May 24, 2001 and Korean application no. 2001-45165, filed on Jul. 26, 2001.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge assembly for a door of a kimchi storage device, and more particularly, to a hinge assembly for a door of a kimchi storage device, which prevents the door from coming off the upper surface of the body by maintaining the closed position without fail upon closure of the door and which prevents cold air from leaking by maintaining a sealed state.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is generally known, kimchi storage devices exclusively used for kimchi, which mature and preserve kimchi optimally by using the principles of a refrigeration are now commonly used.
The kimchi storage device is constituted in such a manner that it can mature kimchi adequately according to seasonal variation and a user""s taste and then preserve the taste of the well-matured kimchi for a long time at a proper temperature.
While a general refrigerator is designed to have a door which opens and closes laterally, it is common that such a kimchi storage device is provided with an upper open/closed type door having a small overall size which is hingeably fixed to the upper surface of the body and is moved longitudinally into and out of the open position.
As illustrated therein, two separate kimchi storage chambers 3 are provided in the body 6 of the kimchi storage device which forms the appearance. Two doors 5 are hinged to the upper end of the rear surface of the body 6 in order to open and close these two kimchi storage chambers 3 by lifting them upwardly.
All operations of the kimchi storage device are performed with a control panel 7 provided on the front surface of the body 6.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, a hinge assembly 10, which is employed for a conventional kimchi storage device 1, comprises a turn member 20 fixed to a door 5 side, a hinge housing 30 forming a compartment in a case shape, a roller-shaped press roll 21 disposed at one end of the turn member 20, a hexahedral support member 40 and a pair of spring members 50, both being placed in the compartment of the hinge housing 30, a support plate 31, an adjust plate 32, and a cover plate 33 fixed to a body 6 of the kimchi storage device 1.
The turn member 20 and the hinge housing 30 are rotatably connected by a hinge shaft 25, and an open internal region of the hinge housing 30 is covered by the cover plate 33.
The support member 40 has a sloping contact surface 41 on the upper surface thereof to enable a sliding motion by rolling contact with the press roll 21 and two spring coupling recesses 42 on the lower surface thereof for receiving the pair of spring members 50, which are below the sloping contact surface 41.
At this time, it is preferable that a buffer member 34 made of sponge material be inserted between the springs members 50 and the cover plate 33 for preventing direct frictional contact.
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a partial portion of a kimchi storage device employing a hinge assembly in the conventional art. The turn member 20 is fixed and mounted to the rear surface of the door 5 by a screw assembly. The hinge housing 30 is fixed and mounted on the upper end of the rear surface of the body 6 by a screw assembly through the cover plate 33 which covers an open surface of the hinge housing 30 with an engagement means such as fixing protrudes of the hinge housing 30 and fixing holes of the cover plate 33.
In this way, in the state that the turn member 20 and hinge housing 30 of the hinge assembly are assembled, the turn member 20 fixed to the door 5 is turned over backwardly and moved when opening the door 5. When the door 5 is fully open, the turn member 20 is turned over at an angle of up to 90 degrees with respect to the upper end of the body 6.
At this time, the turn member 20 is slidably moved while the press roll 21 is in rolling contact with the slopping contact surface 41 having a slopping shape formed at the top surface of the support member 40.
When the door 5 is brought to the fully open position, the press roll 21 is in contact with the low contact surface 43 of the sloping contact surface 41, and gradually slides onto the high contact surface 44 of the sloping contact surface 41 as the door 5 is closed. Due to the sloping shape of the sloping contact surface 41, the press roll 21 presses the support member 40 downwardly and thus the spring member 50 contacted with the support member 40 is compressed by pressing force from the door 5 through the press roll 21.
As the door 5 comes closer to the closed position, the pressing force applied to the spring member 50 through the support member 40 becomes larger and accordingly the springback force of the spring member 50 also becomes larger.
Therefore, as the door 5 is closed, the resistance force caused by the springback force of the spring member 50 becomes larger. By the time the door 5 comes into contact with the body 6, the closing speed of the door 5 is sharply decreased to thus reduce the closing impact of the door 5.
However, in a case of the hinge assembly 10 employed for the kimchi storage device in the conventional art, the sloping contact surface 41 formed at the top surface of the support member 40 is simply configured to have a predetermined slope angle in the same direction between the low contact surface 43 and the high contact surface 44. Thus, when the door 5 is completely closed, the resistance force caused by the springback force of the spring member 50 is maximized thereby causing the upward pushing force on the support member 40 to be maximized.
Hence, when the door 5 is in the fully closed position, the springback force of the spring member 50 pushes the support member 40 upwardly and thus the press roll 21 contacting the high contact surface 44 of the sloping contact surface 41 returns to the low contact surface 43, though slightly. This generates an inadequate gap as the door 5 comes off from the upper surface of the body 6 thereby allowing a cold air to leak out from the kimchi storage chamber 3 through the gap between the door 5 and the body 6.
Furthermore, when the door 5 of the kimchi storage device 1 is opened, the turn member 20 fixed to the door 5 is turned over backwardly on a hinge shaft 25 with respect to the fixed hinge housing 30. At this time, there may occur an incidental accident such as a pinching of a user""s fingers in the gap of a joint portion between the lower end portion of the turn member 20 and the upper end portion of the hinge housing 30, the magnitude of the gap varying according to the opening and closing angles of the door 5.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a hinge assembly for a door of a kimchi storage device which prevents the door from coming off the upper surface of the body by maintaining the closed position of the door tightly and which prevents cold air leaking from the kimchi storage chamber by maintaining a sealed state between the door and the body.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hinge assembly for a door of a kimchi storage device which prevents a pinching of a user""s finger in the gap between a hinge housing and a turn member during opening and closing of the door and thusly enabling safe opening and closing operations.
To achieve the above object, there is provided a hinge assembly for a door of a kimchi storage device according to the present invention, comprising: A hinge assembly for a door of a kimchi storage device, comprising: a turn member fixed to the door; a hinge housing having a compartment in a form of a case; a roller-shaped press roll disposed at one end of the turn member; a hexahedral support member and a pair of spring members, both being placed in the compartment of the hinge housing; and a cover plate fixed to a body of the kimchi storage device, wherein the support member includes a first contact surface and a second contact surface, both of which are formed on the upper surface thereof, the first contact surface sloping down toward a front side of the hinge housing and being in rolling contact with the press roll during an opening process and while the door is in an open position and, the second contact surface sloping down toward a back side of the hinge housing, being next to the first contact surface and being in rolling contact with the press roll during a closing process and while the door is in a closed position.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the hinge housing has a guard portion formed at an upper end portion thereof, the guard portion having an inwardly curved shape and being extended from the upper end of the hinge housing toward inside of the turn member, thereby covering a gap formed in a conjunction area between the hinge housing and the turn member.